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 Sunday, May 2, 2004
Wimp. L. Paul Bremer is a wimp:
Yahoo! News - Bremer Takes Back Statements About Bush: L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq (news - web sites), said Sunday he regrets a statement he made more than six months before the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration was "paying no attention" to terrorism.
Bremer said any implied criticism that President Bush (news - web sites) was not acting against terrorism was "unfair."... At a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on Feb. 26, 2001, Bremer said, "The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?' That's too bad. They've been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they're not taking advantage of it."
Bremer made the speech after he had chaired the National Commission on Terrorism, a bipartisan body formed by the Clinton administration to examine U.S. counterterrorism policies...
He's already shredded his reputation by his performance as proconsul in Iraq. Now he's smashing the only claim to merit he has left--that he was one of those begging the Bush (and the Clinton) administration to focus more on terrorism back before 911. [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal (2004)]
Implied criticism!!! Looks pretty explicit to me. Well, it sure would be nice for a member of this administration to avow what they said, even if it goes against current talking points. But then, he probably knows what this administration does to anyone who steps out of line. There have been so many examples. Geez, read what he said in 2001 and what he says now. Makes you wonder how hard they have him by the balls. I wonder what else he will have to do to prove his loyalty? 11:41:15 PM 
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs advising presidential candiate Kerry on economic issues. "Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs are advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on economic issues. Kerry, 60, the four-term Massachusetts senator challenging President George W. Bush, 'reached out to them and they're giving him economic advice about the deficit and job creation,' said David Wade, Kerry's campaign spokesman," Jon Steinman reports for Bloomberg News.
Steinman reports, "Neither Buffett, the... [MacDailyNews]
So much fun to see a political discussion, complete with trolls and flame wars. erupt on a Mac site. All it took was writing Bush and Kerry. 11:34:47 PM
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"I don't begrudge them..."
"...We'd do the same thing if some foreign dudes rolled into San
Diego and set up shop.
—
A Marine
officer in Fallujah
"I also started thinking that the insurgents sure didn't look like
terrorists from my vantage point on the truck. They didn't seem like radicals
or hard-core fighters. They were people shooting from their bedrooms, their
prayer rooms, their rice paddies and their mosques. They were people defending
their land."
— NY
Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman
"If an Iraqi division was rolling up I-85 through Greensboro on
its way to overthrow some hypothetical despot in Washington, I’d like
to think I’d have the wherewithal to pick a couple of the bastards off
along the way."
— Ed
Cone, a peace-loving journalist
"Jerry, just because it's hard doesn't mean it's worth doing!"
— Lt. Britt
Blaser to Lt. Iverson, 1967
When I was a 24-year-old Lieutenant hauling guns and butter around Vietnam
in C-130s in October, 1967, my fiancée was demonstrating for peace in
Washington, DC. Between the two of us, I felt we were getting it about right.
We saw our higher purpose not as assembling a bundle of illusory reinforcements
for a narrow point of view, but rather to do what needed doing, competently,
while understanding our context, competently.
Or, as Tom Wolfe related in The Right Stuff: "Shut up and
die like an aviator." He was quoting an experienced Naval aviator
advising a young pilot to stop yelling about the MIG on his Six and to start
doing what he'd been trained to do.
The common thread in these anecdotes is that, if there is such a thing as right
action, it places a demand on your resources whether or not your intellect
or your gut buys into it. That is the essence of trusting your instruments rather
than your inner ear. It also suggests that, when you must do things that seem
threatening to your survival, it's OK to keep your perspective.
In fact, it will improve your odds of survival.
[I penned this last night without the benefit of Ed
Cone's similar
post. Honest.] [Escapable Logic]
A very good perspective about how to do the right thing, even at peril to your own life. 11:22:24 PM
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Much like the reading of the soldiers killed in Iraq on Nightline, there really is little definitively political by this artwork. It is what you bring to it, what your perceptions are, and prejudices, that will determine your response. I find it extremely affecting, a nice use of technology to create a work that would have been almost impossible in an earlier age. This is an image that I expect to be seen long after these times are done. There is more discussion by Atrios. 10:07:37 PM
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It is wonderful that they will hold their own investigation. But we know the name of one of the employees and he is, at least recently, still in Iraq. Even though there were recommendations to have him fired. These allegations came from back in January. Why is he still there? General Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , has not even read the report written back in February. 'It's working its way to me'
There is already ample evidence that the military was hoping to keep this under wraps. INstead of making the repost and its recommendations a top priority we now find that a previous report on the prison found nothing out of the ordinary. It was only with the revelation that pictures were out in the open that a new report was put together identifying the likely culprits and, apparently, stopping there. But we have been doing this since the Afghan war. that is what is in the reports. I guess nothing was done because there were no pictures. That these MPs felt so comfortable snapping those disgusting pictures suggests that these were not isolated but were a part of a culture that treated Iraqis as sub-human. Even the rules of engagement for the US is different than any others, allowing us to go after sites even if civilians are present. Finding a moderate Arab who will now stand with us is darn near impossible. But we will not be able to gain any security WITHOUT moderates.
But, since we appear to no longer allow moderates in our political process, why should it be a surprise that this administration's policies have removed any moderates in the Middle East? 9:47:32 PM
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So, after Bush ticks off every Arab country, even the moderate ones, he does not even help Sharon. After trumpeting how wonderful his deal with Sharon was, we now see the repercussions. We gave up a awful lot and got nothing, except contempt and empty promises. Seems that even Israel knows that it no longer has to worry about the US. The tail now wags the dog. That should sure help us fight terrorism. 9:43:05 PM
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And, coincidentally, we have an Administration that only believes in science that fits its political agenda. Any facts that do not fit are not broadcast. Such an arrogant disrespect for science will only further erode our dominance. The real work will get done elsewhere, leaving us to wallow in the busted dreams of our technology.
More and more of our research dollars ares going for military projects. less for pure science. In a report last month, the American Association for the Advancement of Science said the Bush administration, to live up to its pledge to halve the nation's budget deficit in the next five years, would cut research financing at 21 of 24 federal agencies [~] all those that do or finance science except those involved in space and national and domestic security.
And there are less scientists in the US. And far less applications from outside. It is so difficult now for a foreign student to get into the US, that they are going elsewhere. In the long run, this will be good for us all, as science is increasingly diversified. But I would not expect our gtovernment to react to this with joy. Its policy is to prevent ANY country fron threatening our hegemony. This certainly would. 9:28:20 PM
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Nice presentation on the basics of fourth generation warfare (large PPT). Very important aspect:
- Strategic objective: win the moral war.
- Operational objective: win the mental and moral war.
- Tactical objective: win the physical, mental, and moral war.
In this model, the treatment of Iraqi prisoners and the siege of Fallujah (particularly the statements prior to the operation) does harm strategic objectives. You might say this is obvious, but it isn't for so many people. [John Robb's Weblog]
All this administration seemed to think is that it could win the tactital war and win the whole thing. Boy, are we finding out that is wrong! Wy did they not read Jefferson: Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
We have been making the evils insufferable. 12:54:10 AM
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The flap over Nightline's plans to read the names of the US dead in Iraq underscores the fundamental truth that the all volunteer army radically reduces concern over casualties. Conscription would end this war in a nano-second.
I am neutral on this truth, there are good and bad aspects to this. I am just pointing it out because it means that bodycount attacks are not a high yeild tactic against an all volunteer force (which means we can last in Iraq for a long, long time).
Further proof: there is no shortage of volunteers that want to go to Iraq if the pay is right (see Private Military Companies). [John Robb's Weblog]
I had not thought of this but the government may have to push for a draft to be more cost effective. Draftees are 'free' while private contractors cost a lot of money and can leave anytime.Privitation of military needs was not such a good idea. 12:49:43 AM
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UPI. President George Bush told the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks a security memo he got warning of attacks lacked a date or place. This is nearly the lamest excuse I have ever heard. It would seem apparent that the absence of a time and place for an impending attack should increase worry not decrease it. [John Robb's Weblog]
Abso-$%^&ing-lutely. Bush shows an alarming tendency to just let things go with no follow through. Woodward's book describes a presentation given to Bush by the CIA on Iraqi WMD. Bush felt that it was not enough and that the American people would not buy it. Tenet called it a slam dunk, twice. And Bush just let it go, allowing the US and his administration to begin its slow slouch toward... 12:47:43 AM
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Hypersensitivity. HYPERSENSITIVITY....I think that my political outrage antennae must not be tuned sensitively enough. Yesterday I wrote that I didn't really understand why conservatives have been so knee-jerkingly critical of recent press depictions of combat deaths in Iraq. Sure, these words... [Political Animal]
What I love from the Bush quote is the implicit suggestion that American's have white skin. And who in the world has suggested that Iraqis can not have a democracy because theya re not white. This attempt to portray people who question his policies is really repugnant.
I firmly believe that ay group IS capapable of democracy. But, I am also of the opinon that the policies of this Administration have done more to hamper the creation of a viable democracy in Iraq than it has helped. I believe we are less safe today than a year ago. I believe our soldiers in Iraq are in greater dangert today than they were a year ago. And now that it seems that 100,000 or more will remain for more than 2 years, they will continue to be in harm's way. 12:40:12 AM
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Some more evidence about the change that occurred in Iraq and its people from late last year until March. It appears that much of this will stem from the fact that too few US troops are there. Rumsfeld thought he could do this the 'new' way with a high tech force that needed minimal manpower. But land is only held by feet and he never put enough over there. He 'fired' the general who said we needed more. Analysis indicated we needed at least 4 times more soldiers over there after the war than we had in order to provide security. Now security is falling apart and our soldiers, naturally scared by the lack of security, are reacting as humans often do in these situations. Attacking anything in sight and completely dehumanizing EVERY Iraqi. The big mistake, of the many in this war, was not having enough troops.
Now we have provided a handbook to any other country that we might want to wage 'pre-emptive' war on. They will all know that, while we have enough soldiers to fight a war, we do not have enough to win the peace. So simply di what Saddam did. Roll over and let the US win the war. Then regroup and eventually win the peace. So many well-regarded analysts said exactly this. In fact, the Pentagon had a large document saying this. And this administration ignored it. 12:24:56 AM
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This interesting comment by CJ on Kevin Drum's blog posts some emails from some friends that give a compelling view of what it is like for soldiers in Iraq now. Something really turned over there between December and March. 12:12:44 AM
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